Gültepe: “Our Textile Industry is in the Lead the field with 53 Design and 50 R&D Centers…”
Mustafa Gültepe, Chairman of the Board of Directors of TIM, made the opening speech of Futuretex Istanbul Fabric Design Competition: “Our textile sector is the leader in this field with 53 design centers. It is again at the top with 50 centers in the field of R&D. Competitions have a special place in bringing young talents to production.”
Futuretex Istanbul Fabric Design Competition Awards Found Their Owners
The winners of the Futuretex Istanbul Fabric Design Competition, organized under the Ministry of Trade and under the coordination of the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM), were announced. The ceremony hosted by Ahmet Öksüz, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Istanbul Textile and Raw Materials Exporters’ Association (İTHİB) was attended by Mustafa Gültepe, Chairman of the Board of Directors of TİM, and many guests.
Seçil San won both the championship prize and the Singer special award, Gülşah Yılmaz won the runner-up prize and Arife Gedik won the third prize. Betül Tezcan was the winner of the İpekyol special award. Singer presented sewing machines to all finalists.
İTHİB Supports Young Talents with Fabric Design Competition at International Level for 18 years
Mustafa Gültepe made an opening speech at the award ceremony: “Today, there are 1,294 R&D and 325 design centers in our country. Our textile sector is the leader in this field with 53 design centers. It is again at the top with 50 centers in the field of R&D. Competitions have a special place in bringing young talents to production. Especially our textile and ready-to-wear sectors are carrying out successful projects with the support of the Ministry of Trade. İTHİB has been supporting young talents with an international fabric design competition for 18 years. Today, many of those talents are designing and preparing collections for our brands. Of course, we will reap the fruits of all these investments and creative ideas more in the coming years. This year, some sectors are experiencing a decline due to the contraction in global demand. There is a decline in the exports of 12 sectors, including textiles. However, I believe that the picture will turn around in 2024. With our design capacity getting stronger every year, we will carry our country to higher ranks in the champions league of textile and ready-to-wear. Design has a clear multiplier effect on value. When we add innovation to it and brand it, its price increases even more.”
Ahmet Öksüz, referring to the words of Sakıp Sabancı, said: “The doyen of our sector, our late businessman Sakıp Sabancı: ‘Success on a world scale is not weaving the best fabric. Nor is it making the best garment from the best fabric. Success is turning the best fabric into a garment according to the best drawing and creating a very high added value by attaching a brand to it. Now, the measure of success is the measure of the world. Our export unit prices show us that Turkish fabric is now a brand. While our Turkey-wide export unit price is around 1.5 dollars per kilogram, our woven fabric export unit price per kilogram is 8.9 dollars.” Emphasizing that these competitions are of great importance for the future of the sector, Ahmet Öksüz said: “Through our competitions, innovative ideas are evaluated and brought into production. We see design as one of the key elements of value-added exports. Therefore, we also support qualified young people who will work in the field of design.”
Stating that the finalists in the competition made designs that pay attention to sustainable production, Ahmet Öksüz noted that sustainability and value-added production are among the most important agenda items in the sector in 2024.
Young designers participating in the competition, which received more than 200 applications, contribute to the development of the sector with their innovative and original fabric designs. The top three finalists of the Futuretex Istanbul Fabric Design Competition won an overseas education award and a 6-month foreign language education award with the support of the Ministry of Trade. The first prize of the competition was 200 thousand TL, the second prize was 150 thousand TL and the third prize was 100 thousand TL. In addition, all finalists will receive design education at İstanbul Fashion Academy. The top five finalists of the competition will also visit one of the world’s leading fairs in the sector. Betül Tezcan was the winner of the Special Honor Award this year. Tezcan’s fabric will be shaped by Tuvanam brand and will be offered for sale in İpekyol stores. In addition, the Singer brand, which presents sewing machines to all participants, presented a special sewing machine to Seçil San.
The fabrics prepared by 10 finalists in the competition were transformed into pillows with the design of designer Siren Ertan Kayalar. In 10 different ways, specially designed pillows were offered for sale at the night; it was announced that all proceeds from the sale will be donated to the children affected by the Kahramanmaraş-based earthquake disaster and to the Mehmetçik Foundation.